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The Great American Desert
Major Stephen H. Long was an army explorer venturing west. He went across Missouri and Arkansa and across the Mississippi River and discovered a region of plains. He named it the Great American Desert because he thought these lands could not be cultivated. Little did he know these lands had great soil for farming. People believed that these lands were not good and looked towards the south for expansion. -
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Oregon Fever
After the US navy reported the majesties of this new place called Oregon, many wanted to settle out there. But this meant taking a long excruciating journey called the oregon trail. People went from Independence, Missouri across the plains, over the mountains and eventually made it to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. However hard the journey was, the land was rewarding. The good soil and warm climates made it easy for farmers to start their new home. -
Texas and Oregon
During the election of 1844 many candidates divided supported of expansion of the Oregon territory and to have Texas join the union. One candidate, James Polk had big ambitions to expand settlements across the continent. He wanted re-occupation of Oregon and re-annexation of Texas. He resisted British claims of ownership of the Oregon territory. He wanted to gain supporters so he also supported the annexation of Texas, which happened in 1845. This helped him become president in 1845. -
Manifest Destiny
Coined by John L. O'Sullivan, the phrase Manifest Destiny was a popular phrase. This philosophical phrase meant that the duty and purpose of americans was to expand civilization westwards until the whole country was developed. This gave americans hope and excitement to go buy land in the west. For the natives, this meant they would be treated inferior and have their land taken from them. -
Polk's Plan for Mexico
President Polk wanted to expand farther south into Mexico and California. So he sent a US consul to help persuade the Californios to seek independence and join the US union. He sent military to the San Francisco Bay, mexican territory and the disputed lands near the Rio Grande and Nueces River. He then sent John Slidell to secure the Rio Grande and buy California and New Mexico provinces for 30 million dollars. The mexicans did not like the american intrusion, so they didn't meet with him. -
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The Mexican War
The troops Polk sent to the lands between the Rio Grande and Nueces River were sent to provoke a fight with the mexicans. They were not to start the fight so that America could declare war. This did happen eventually in 1846 when Polk delivered the the official declaration of war. He said that the mexicans invaded American soil drew american blood. This is ironic since America was the one intruding and wanting war. -
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The California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to massive amount of people migrating to the west coast. Many ships and wagons set off in hopes to get rich. By the end 1849 more than 80,000 people settled in California. These people were called forty-niners. They lived in towns and mining camps. They didn't allow Indians, Mexicans or Chinese in their towns, or they confined them to marginal digging. -
Compromise of 1850
There are many elements to this Compromise
1. A new fugitive slave act was put in place to give federal support to slave catchers.
2. California was added to the union as a free state.
3. Boundaries by New Mexico and Texas were disputed and they were in favor of New Mexico
4. Slave trade was abolished in the District of Columbia.
5. The conquered Mexican lands were organized into New Mexico and Utah territories that were under a popular sovereignty which meant the people decided on slavery. -
Gadsden Purchase
President Pierce wanted to pursue an expansionist foreign policy and build the transcontinental railroad. He opened trade in the north with the Japanese and he looked southward to find land to build the railroad. He eventually settled for a small piece of land in today Arizona and New Mexico. The piece of land consisted of just desert but important for the railroad going from Los Angeles to New Orleans. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
In 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas wanted to build a transcontinental railroad from California to Chicago. To build this, they would need to build in the great plains, which was also native american land. He proposed to open a large free territory called Nebraska, but no one thought it was a good idea. To help persuade the people, he claimed slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty. He also proposed that Kansas would also be added. This act was barely passed and the consequences were bad.
